Tag Archives: procurement events

Economic woes, political uncertainty and digital disruption might trouble your CEO, but it should delight the CPO. After all, procurement can perform best on a burning platform.

There has never been a better time for procurement. A combination of the economic cycle, global politics, and digital disruption has brought ambiguity to the marketplace. If, as a CEO, you are uncertain about your top line, wrapping your arms around the things you can control – costs – is the pragmatic approach to profitability. Costs incurred with suppliers represent the majority of for the average large corporate, overshadowing even labor expenses. How will uncertainty impact each shift.

Economic Cycles

We have been experiencing slow economic growth for a while now. Financial crashes are typically succeeded by over ten years of slow growth, which means a new downward cycle may be imminent. In the context of record Dow Jones levels and the FTSE not far off its high, it might seem strange to be pessimistic. But when Warren Buffett holds over $100bn of cash, it seems to be an anecdotal indicator that we are nearing the top of a cycle. Being agile with your supply chain is now more important than ever, as you don’t want to get caught with high priced goods and services, or the wrong inventory altogether as your market evolves.

Global politics

Politics shape and reshape the global economy. More so now than ever, economic policies of the Democrats and Republicans, and Labour and Conservative represent a vast divide. Whether it is Trump or Brexit, coalition politics and political decisions are having a big impact on both the polity and the economic prospects. Questions about trade, tariff barriers, regulation and corporate tax are now subject to divergent positions and disagreement. The answers could go in multiple directions, and so politics and electoral results are back to having a bearing on business certainties. Resolutions to these questions can take many different shapes and will bring some turbulent swings in the stock market and broader business marketplace. Since these issues are central to the way business is conducted, long-term cost discipline strategies aimed to give cover for the political uncertainty are warranted.

Digital disruption

While not everything is going to be digitized or robotized (I hope a robot isn’t my next barber), the digital age has descended upon us. Some industries are further down the maturity curve than others – both retail and finance, for example, have substantial legacy infrastructures which impact the incumbent ability to compete cost-effectively, and with agility. All industries, however, need to optimize digitally; managing processes, metrics, and data to inform short-term and long-term strategies to stay competitive and manage costs. With the emergence of cutting-edge technologies and the disruption of traditional business models, every company will require a hard look at their strategy to ensure they are embracing both the challenges and opportunities that come with advancing supplier provided technologies and their effect on procurement. Companies need to consider how the rapid rate of innovation will disrupt how their organizations work and line up their suppliers to respond. What a moment in time! Add a dash of currency devaluation leading to imported inflation, sprinkle in digital technology, and we could not ask for more ambiguity from the circumstances around us. Setting clear, agile strategy to control costs is the shrewd response to deal with the uncertainty of our times. Go procurement.

From Mumbai to Melbourne; and Paris to Poughkeepsie, you can take part in the world’s largest procurement event – free.

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Register as an online delegate for The Big Ideas Summit in London here.

Last week, we announced that the Big Ideas Summit 2017 is going global with events in London, Sydney, Chicago, Dubai and Singapore. If you’re interested in getting involved but still not entirely sure what’s going on, look no further! We’ve compiled a list of our most frequently asked questions to get you fully up to speed!

What is it?

The Big Ideas Summit is a unique online event uniting procurement and supply chain professionals from around the globe to drive innovation and inspire change.

When is it?

We kick off the global tour in London on 23 February 2017. But a lively conversation has already begun on Procurious! Expect to see most of the action between 09.00 – 17.00 (GMT) as we share video insights, quotes, photos and summary articles direct from London.

If you can’t join the action live, not to worry. The thought-provoking discussions and debate will continue long after, and we’ll be sharing video footage of all our Influencers Big Ideas throughout February and March on Procurious.

Where is it?

First stop, London! Although our Top Influencers will be meeting in Soho, due to its digital nature Procurious members across the world can get involved from the comfort of their office, armchair or even from the beach!

Procurious members can also use our iOS App to follow the action. It’s available in the Apple iTunes store and is free to download.

How can I join in?

You’ll need to be a registered member of Procurious – join here for free if you haven’t already. Then simply access the Big Ideas Summit Group to soak-up thoughtful opinions, participate in insightful discussion, connect with our Influencers, access exclusive podcasts and interviews and share your own Big Ideas with the Procurious community.

We’ll also be live tweeting throughout the day, so make sure you’re following @procurious_ to share and respond to our tweets using the hashtag #bigideas2017.

Do I have to be a member of Procurious?

Yes. Participation as a Digital Delegate is free and open to all members of Procurious. By joining Procurious, you will not only have access to all the exclusive Big Ideas Summit content, but you will join a community of 19,000 like-minded procurement peers and gain access to all Procurious’ free resources, including being able to:

Upskill on the move with 80+ eLearning modules

Get your procurement questions answered by experts

Find out about relevant professional events around the globe

Become a digital delegate in the global think-tank, Big Ideas Summit 2017

Will Big Ideas be live-streamed?

Procurious boasts a global audience of 19,000+ procurement professionals, from more than 140 countries. If we were to cater to all of these time zones, it would be a tough job – so rather than live-streaming (and keeping you awake at awkward hours), we’ll share exclusive video and podcast interviews with Digital Delegates.

We will be using Periscope to live stream short videos from the day, but these videos – and all the Big Ideas videos and podcast interviews – will be made available to you in the days that follow exclusively on Procurious.

I’m on the fence – why should I take part?

Here are five compelling reasons to join your fellow Procurians and stake your claim to the wealth of knowledge on offer:

An audience with 50 of the world’s top procurement influencers

Get your questions answered by world-class experts

Make powerful new contacts around the globe

Share your own Big Idea and make your voice heard

Access exclusive content & learnings

Who are the ‘Top Influencers’?

The term ‘influencers’ refers to the our 50 face-to-face delegates who attend in each city respectively: London, Sydney, Chicago, Dubai and Singapore.

Our experts span the worlds of procurement, technology, social media, journalism, social media, economics and academia.

Through an unequalled think-tank event powered by social media, Procurious will enable the global procurement community to crowdsource their thinking on the future of procurement during the second annual Big Ideas Summit on April 21, 2016.

As the leading free online business network for procurement and supply chain management professionals, Procurious will connect 50 top executives, thought leaders and CPOs, with its 12,000+ worldwide members to forge new ground together.

Every delegate’s big ideas will contribute to solving thorny issues, and harnessing new opportunities. All are invited to participate by going to bigideassummit.com — where they can register for Procurious and then join the Big Ideas Summit Group.

“Procurement needs to start thinking the unthinkable and rethinking the possible – we can’t be constrained by our current paradigms. With social media allowing every one of us to have a voice, a digital conference helps us involve the whole world in the conversation, and enables access to diverse views and experiences,” says Tania Seary, Founding Chairman, Procurious.

“Our goal is to empower a new generation of business intrapreneurs – people who can think outside the box – to ignite change even in times of ambiguity. We hope to seed an innovation movement that knows no boundaries.”

Sponsored by IBM, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), The Hackett Group, and Coupa, the Big Ideas Summit will feature several provocative sessions. Leaders from these organisations, as well as the Economist, Facebook, AstraZeneca, The World Bank, and more, will discuss:

Thinking the Unthinkable: How the global business environment is changing, how to spot trends and disruptions, and ‘unthinkables’ to prepare for.

Rethinking the Possible: Today’s megatrends, from ethical supply chains to the Internet of Things.

The Conversation Century: How leaders are using social media to attract and retain the best and brightest talent, and maintain a career edge.

On April 21, when they log on to Procurious, they will also be able to exchange viewpoints on the proceedings, shared by video, and get involved in real time via social media, on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook, using the hashtag #BigIdeas2016. Members will also be able to access more rich content in the days and weeks after this gathering.

Procurious is the world’s first online business community dedicated to procurement and supply chain professionals. It’s a hub to advance your career, develop your skills and expand your global professional network. With 12,000+ members across the globe, Procurious aims to empower procurement leaders to connect, collaborate and take a more innovative professional outlook.

Think of Procurious as a professional network, news and knowledge hub, learning and career center, all in one place. Join now at www.procurious.com – it’s free to register and participate.

Here’s what else has been going on in the procurement world this week.

In order to reduce dependency on third-party freighter services, Amazon is building its own logistics network to keep up with customer demand.

The planes will be leased for five to seven years and run by various divisions of Air Transport Services Group, allowing Amazon to run its own logistics network in the US.

With this, the retail giant would be able to meet the demand of same- and next-day delivery for its customers, particularly Prime members.

Dave Clark, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations and Customer Service at Amazon said “We offer Earth’s largest selection, great prices and ultra-fast delivery promises to a growing group of Prime members, and we’re excited to supplement our existing delivery network with a great new provider.”